The chill factor

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In the third of a four-part series, Steve Manfredi prepares a
dinner that won't stop you socialising.

Here's a summer dinner menu that can be prepared well ahead of
time - mostly. For the best results there are some simple but
crucial tasks that need to be done at the last minute.

The tomato and thyme soup is served chilled and can be made a
day or two ahead. The mussels, however, are best right after being
cooked, added to the soup as they cool. For extra flavour, mix 2-3
tbsp of the mussel cooking liquor to each bowl of soup.

The chickpeas and asparagus in the next dish can be made a day
or so ahead. They can be heated just before grilling or pan-frying
the prawns, or can be brought to room temperature simply by taking
out of the fridge an hour before serving.

The roast leg of lamb can be versatile. While convention
dictates the roast be served hot, this leg of lamb can be cooked
the day before, refrigerated, sliced cold and brought to room
temperature just before dinner. Served with the capsicum and onion
as a sort of accompanying vegetable relish, it's delicious with
crusty bread and a salad.

Dessert, too, can be made well before it's served - the cherries
up to a week and the mascarpone cream up to two days. The only
last-minute job is to toast the panettone, serve and enjoy the
company.

Chilled tomato and thyme soup with mussels

For six people, chop 1.5kg of ripe tomatoes and puree in a food
processor. Sieve the mashed tomatoes (a conical sieve works well,
pushing the puree through with a ladle) into a pot, discarding the
remaining skin and seeds.

Add 4 tbsp of chopped fresh thyme and a pinch of saffron. Heat
the puree until it is just boiling. Remove from the heat and add a
quarter of a cup of extra virgin olive oil a little at a time while
whisking, until it is blended in well. The tomato soup should be
rich and glossy. Season with salt to taste, and chill. Meanwhile,
scrub 36 mussels and remove the beards. Place them in a pot, add a
splash of white wine, put the pot on a high heat with the lid on
and cook until they open. Remove from the heat and take all but 12
out of their shells. Distribute the mussels evenly into soup
dishes, add the chilled tomato mix and serve.

A WINE TO MATCH

The best thing about cold soup, apart from the fact that when
the weather's hot the soup is cold, is that cold soup goes with
wine. There are a few elements to this dish: herbal thyme, earthy
saffron, the acid of the tomatoes and the fishiness of the mussels.
It suggests a white wine and red wine at the same time - rose,
chilled like the soup. Turkey Flat Rose 2004, $17

Grilled prawns with chickpeas and asparagus

Heat 3 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil in a pan and lightly fry a
finely minced, medium-sized red onion, 3 cloves of roughly chopped
garlic with a teaspoon of ground cumin, half a teaspoon of paprika
and a teaspoon of minced fresh ginger until transparent. Add 2
roughly chopped ripe tomatoes and 1 1/2 cups of cooked chickpeas.
Simmer until the tomatoes have dissolved into liquid. Add 400g of
asparagus spears cut into bite-sized pieces and half a cup each of
roughly chopped flat-leaf parsley and coriander. Stir and simmer
for 5 minutes until the asparagus is cooked. Season with salt and
pepper to taste. Peel and remove the veins from 18 large green
prawns and pan-fry or grill them. Serve on the chickpeas and
asparagus. Makes enough for six as a first course.

A WINE TO MATCH

This dish is not short on flavours. There's plenty going on but
there's also the sweetness and delicacy of the prawn meat. It's
definitely white wine food but with a red wine punch. That's pinot
gris, a close relation to pinot noir. A good, unctuous pinot gris
won't be swamped by the garlic and ginger in the chickpea and
tomato mixture and it won't murder the prawns, either. Scorpo Pinot
Gris 2003, $27

Roast lamb leg with capsicum and onions

Find a lamb leg big enough for six people. Better still, if you
can find suckling lamb, get two small ones. Rub the legs with extra
virgin olive oil. Lay some long sprigs of rosemary in a baking
tray, then place the legs on the rosemary. Season with salt and
pepper and roast in a preheated 180C oven until done. Meanwhile,
remove the seeds from 4 red capsicum and slice them into 8 strips
each and place in a baking tray. Peel 4 medium-sized red onions,
cut them into 8 wedges each and add to the capsicum. Sprinkle the
pieces with olive oil, salt and pepper. Mix so the pieces are well
coated with oil. Bake them in the same oven as the lamb leg, though
they will only take about 20 minutes to cook. Once ready, add 4-5
tbsp of balsamic vinegar and mix well. Best served cooled to room
temperature. Serve the lamb sliced with the capsicum and
onions.

A WINE TO MATCH

The leg of lamb is a cut of meat that can make a rustic red
taste refined and the most refined red taste gutless. That mixture
of fat, bone and unapologetic lamb flavour means an honest,
raw-boned young red can shine. Add rosemary, capsicum and onions
baked in lamb juices and it's a recipe that suits a young, slightly
aggressive cabernet.

Steer clear of those addled with too much American oak. Try
Water Wheel Bendigo Cabernet Sauvignon 2002, $18.

Poached cherries with toasted panettone and mascarpone
cream

For six people, remove the seeds from 750g of cherries. Bring
500ml of white wine mixed with 200g of sugar, 5 whole black
peppercorns and a teaspoon of vanilla essence to the boil. Pour
over the cherries and allow them to cool in the syrup. Meanwhile,
beat 3 egg whites in a bowl, slowly adding 150g of caster sugar
until firm peaks form. To this add 300g of mascarpone and blend in
until the resulting mixture is light and fluffy. Cut 3-4 thick
slices of panettone (Italian Christmas cake) and pop them in the
toaster. When done, cut the toasted panettone into thick fingers.
Put some of the mascarpone cream on each plate, then cherries on
top and serve with 2 or 3 fingers of toasted panettone.

A WINE TO MATCH

There was a time when people drank champagne with dessert but
that was when champagne was sweeter and desserts less gooey. Sadly,
the custom has disappeared and we now have the "sticky" wines with
dessert. This is a dish that really suits old-fashioned, slightly
sweet bubbly. If you can afford it, try Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin
Demi-Sec ($44.95 a half bottle).